4303 Financial Markets Research Paper

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4303 Financial Markets Research Paper

This is an individual assignment. The goal is the study, analyze and report your findings

about the 2008-2009 Great Recession.

For your essay, you need to choose a particular institution/factor that played a key role

in the recent financial crisis. For example, you can write about the reasons for the crisis,

the impact of the crisis on financial markets and institutions, the impact on the global

economy, the response to the financial crisis (the bailout plan and the effect of it on

financial markets), or the aftermath of the crisis. The idea of this project is to connect the

knowledge you gain from this course to the current financial situation, to apply the

concepts that you learn in this class, and to better understand the financial system in the

U.S. This project should be interesting to you!!! Try to find something interesting and related

to our class, which you would want to share with others about the financial crisis and

describe it in your paper.

Listed below are some of the possible titles (focus area) of your paper. You have to

choose one particular factor/institution and do an in-depth analysis in your essay. You

could choose your own area to focus on as well but you should let me know what you

have chosen.

 Role of credit rating agencies (S&P, Moodys, Fitch)

 Role of too-big-to-fail financial institutions (JP Morgan, Citi, Bank of America)

 Collapse of Lehman Brothers

 Mortgage Lenders and their role (e.g. Countrywide)

 Banks (Wachovia)

 Investment Banks (Bear Stearn, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley)

 Mortgage processors and underwriting process

 Treasury’s role, TARP program

 Federal Reserve’s role & reaction

 Failures of small regional banks (mostly in FL, GA, NV, CO, NM, AZ)

 Role of government policies (capital gains in housing, affordable home care act,

increasing home ownership, regulatory laxity, etc)

 Frank-Dodd Act

 Stress test for financial institutions

 Over regulation and impact on small/community banks

 After math of the great recession - impact analysis on consumers/real

estate/employment

 Any special topic that is of interest to you - email me for approval to ensure it is

relevant

© Leonard Arvi Page 2 of 2

Essay structure (Grade)

1. Cover page – Title and your name, course information (1%)

2. Table of contents - with titles of sections and corresponding page numbers (1%)

3. Introduction – about 2 pages or less (2 %)

4. Rationale – why you chose this particular factor to do research (2%)

5. Explanation - organize in separate readable paragraphs. Should have titles and sub-

titles in the content. (10%)

6. Conclusion (2%)

7. A list of references (APA style) (1%)

8. Page numbers in the footer (1%)

Requirements: Must be followed to the T, no excuses. This is a graded paper. Adherence

to instruction matters is imperative for a good grade.

1. This project should help you develop your writing skills which are very important to be

a successful professional. The best way to develop your writing skills is to practice.

Therefore, this paper is to help you polish your writing skills.

2. The content (Introduction through conclusion) of the paper should be at least 7 pages

long (not including the cover page, table of contents, reference list, graphs, charts, etc).

Your essay must be typed, double spaced, justified, in 12 point font (Times New

Roman/Century Gothic or Arial), with 1 inch margins all around and page numbers on

the bottom right corner.

3. You must cite any "direct quotes" AND paraphrased ideas from the article or other

sources. Papers that do not properly cite sources will lose points. You should use APA style

for the references. See the APA online guide for more information on how to cite your

work.

4. Submit your essay via Assignment dropbox through Turnitin.

Grading

Please see essay structure for how the grades are allocated.

Report – will be graded for writing, comprehensive analysis, research, references used,

following instructions. Poor writing, grammatical mistakes including spelling mistakes will

be penalized. A good idea would be complete the report a week before the due date.

Review it at least 3-4 times before submission. Use spell check and ensure there is well

written.

Practice makes perfect, so review and revise it as many times as possible.

Tips for writing:

 Always read your essay out loud before you turn it in. If you were hearing it for the first

time, would it make sense to you? Have you expressed yourself as clearly as possible?

 Always proof-read everything you turn in. Typographical errors, spelling mistakes, and

bad grammar prove very frustrating for your audience.

 You need to review, edit and revise it at least a couple of times before you submit.